In this weeks edition of Speaking of Justice, Scott Drake is joined by Attorney Shannon Liss Riordan and national tax expert and host of The Tax Law Channel, Attorney Robert Wood to discuss the recent case of Dierdre Keily, an ex web content editor who worked for the well known and hugely popular travel web site, "Trip Advisor" which is a subsidiary of the even larger Expedia travel web site. 

 In this timely and fascinating case and analysis, Rob Wood and Shannon Liss Riordan look into the issue of large web sites and internet firms categorizing professional writers, editors and technical experts as "independent contractors" as opposed to treating them as employees. This exceptionally common practice saves internet based employers a huge amount of money in benefits, insurance and other costs, but is basically a systematic process of outsourcing and isolating their staff.

In her suit on behalf of Ms. Kiely, Attorney Liss Riordan  is challenging Trip Advisor's labor policies over "illegal contractor status"... the story can be read online in the Boston Globe , and this podcast goes into both the legal and tax issues facing employers when they attempt to carelessly categorize staff as independent contractors to avoid employee classification. If you are engaged in a business that uses independent contractors or if you work for an internet based business that insists on classifying you in this fashion, this podcast will be of interest to you.

This is an area of litigation that is going to explode in the coming years and lawyers, employers and tax experts need to pay careful attention to the laws in this area.